


burnt romance

by hoememade



Category: Cricket RPF
Genre: M/M, dumbass virat kohli, love sick and shy kane williamson, opponents who fall in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26629435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoememade/pseuds/hoememade
Summary: where kane williamson was in love and virat was oblivious about it.
Relationships: Virat Kohli/Kane Williamson
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	1. no body wants the world cup for themselves

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shadesofmannie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadesofmannie/gifts).



> i was sick and couldn’t sleep so i wrote this instead

KANE WILLIAMSON had won the world cup of the year two thousand and nineteen. but to him — it didn't feel like it. and anyone who just tuned in the channel would think that the black caps had lost the match; thanks to the awful lopsided grin plastered over their captain's face. even though the other squad members were beyond ecstatic, the cameramen decided that they'd rather focused on the blond's sham smile which wouldn't reach his smouldering blue eyes. 

what could have possibly gone wrong?

it wasn't exactly an easy campaign for the soft kiwi boys; they weren't table toppers unlike their opponent captain's team. kane didn't overlook this fact; there was conscience hollering around in his head telling him that they weren't the chosen favourites to home the trophy. but these were all the more reasons to pop open a champagne bottle and celebrate. an opportunity to prove the crowd wrong. but he couldn't bring himself to smile. not after seeing the opponent captain's smile fade away. 

the black caps were already in line for the post match presentation wearing their sharp blazers and their best hair. the men in blue jersey were beside them, most of their heads were hung low and some of them were engaged in tedious conversations. kane who was standing within an arm's reach with the indian captain, couldn't look at him. the virat, kane knew growing up, was never complete without his radiant smile. 

kane knew the rules of cricket — at the end of the day, the winning team had to score a run ahead of the other team. both the teams had scored equal runs, and him winning the trophy seemed unfair to virat. he was afraid of losing virat because of some inane rule. he'd rather play the super over until one team scores more than the other even if took one more hour or even one whopping week. 

surprisingly, virat's first instinct was not to burn down the ovals after he was robbed the world cup by a very daft rule. not even, he saw himself cuss out his frustration. he appeared very calm when compared to his teammates. he could not help but to overhear the animated conversations of rahul and hardik about how unfair the rule was and how new zealand would not have won the tournament if not for that rule. if he heard it, then kane williamson could hear it too. he quickly snapped his neck towards his younger players and glared at them. 

knowing kane williamson for the respectful saint that he was, he was sure kane wouldn't look him in his eyes with all the guilt he was hogging within him for winning the cup. all virat wanted to do was to look him into his blue eyes and say that it was okay to feel happy; and that if he were to lose the trophy to anyone in this world, he was rather happy that he lost it to him. 

it was very untypical of virat. the virat he knew would never feel okay after losing. mahi always advised him that he has to accept the losses and not to put up a tantrum in the dressing room afterwards. maybe he had started to accept it and had grown to appreciate the good cricket played by the opposite team. or maybe thought that just to stop feeling things he wasn't supposed to feel. 

even though he knew that his boys had fought through all the odds just for that trophy, in the ten seconds he walked towards it, all he could think was how majestic the trophy would look in the pair of tattooed arms rather than his hairy petite pair.

and that's how much selfish kane williamson was.


	2. falling in love

"...now try to remember why did you start playing cricket in the first place..."

kane sighed, "it's stupid. i started playing it to piss off my brother. it was the only thing he wasn't good at." 

logan was better than him in almost everything. in the eleventh month, logan could walk around everywhere while he was merely cruising. logan could also string a full sentence and could be understood but he was stuck up with only four words in his vocabulary — dada, mama, doggie and ball. whatever kane did, logan would have done it first. logan had straight A's while kane had all B's. in high school, logan was more popular and had more friends than his older twin. by the time logan had his first, second and then the third girlfriend, kane was busy chasing around balls on the cricket field. the academia was logan's strength and kane wanted sports to become his.

"i want to close your eyes and picture the place where you decided you're going to make cricket your life. i want you to relive the same emotions again. i want you to fall in love with cricket all over again." 

there are somethings in life that you can never forget, except in the case of alzheimer's. the first match he lost against logan was one of those. that was when he decided to stop playing cricket to piss off his little brother and started playing for himself. 

"it's the backyard of my old house." kane mumbled. 

"don't tell me. close your eyes and imagine yourself there now. imagine yourself seeing your younger self."

tauranga always went easy on kane. even though kane williamson was now living in a house with a much better wallpaper, he couldn't get himself to sell the old one; that's the place with the lush backyard where he fell in love with cricket. it was a reminder of the promise he made to his dad when he was thirteen years old, which was, to keep on playing cricket forever. the twenty eight year old kane who stood there knew, forever was shorter than he thought. 

kane always relived that particular day just like it was some stuck record tape in the music system of some dusty vintage car. the afternoon sun bathed the worn off-unkempt turf all day. the thirteen year old kane rubbed his his bleary eyes as he walked towards the pitch. his sisters were fielding and their dad was standing as the umpire and their lazy dogs decided that they would rather sleep than acting as the ball boys.

logan was taking strike with his brand new bat. their dad got it for him because he scored well in his last five tests. kane's eyes seethed with jealousy whenever he saw the shimmering sticker on the new willow. it was smooth and it didn't look like it hurt his fingers from the dimpled grin logan was flashing to him who was getting ready to bowl. his bat was his father's old bat. the bat phase had a few cracks and the grip caused temporary red calluses to his fingers. he was determined to prove a point. that there was something logan couldn't do. 

he twirled the ball in air before gripping it and tossing it to logan. it did get lost over the fence for a six. he tossed the second ball and it got landed on the roof. seeing that anger curled hot and the look of bitterness swept through his face from the third person's view made him think how naive he was younger. he could only think about how absurd his bowling action looked but hey, it did evolve to an off-break which was less embarrassing if it were to be shown on the telly. but he noticed something today, his bowling action was similar to virat's but virat could never look embarrassing. even with his pathetic dancing skills, he looks adorable not embarrassing. 

snapping himself from the thought about virat, he went back to that day, continuing to see his younger self bowling the third ball to his brother. logan lost eight balls that day. an exhausted kane came on to bat. he almost middled every ball, either hitting it over the fence or into the bushes. despite that, he was short of twelve runs. kane lost to the better son, logan, again. disheartened and gutted he ran away into his room and cried himself to sleep. 

when he woke up the next day, he couldn't believe his own eyes. there were two bats neatly wrapped up with a bow with a note with from his dad. those were the kind of words which kane would tattoo on his arms if he wasn't afraid of needles. virat was afraid of needles too. but kane's glad he got tattoos — his inks just made virat's toned muscular arms more perfect

'thanks for playing fair yesterday, kane baby' read the note. he didn't think his father would have noticed that logan tampered with the scoreboard. and that was the day saint kane was born, who only played by rules and spirit of cricket. kane became more softer, more respectful and more just.   
he never was jealous of logan after that — he knew he was better than him. cricket made him happy. cricket made him better. 

"how do you feel now, kane?" 

"i feel alright." kane replied. 

"okay. now, i am going to ask an important question and i want you to answer honestly." 

kane nodded his head. he was feeling more saintly than before. he relived the day where he learnt how to play the game in a gentleman's way. his doctor's method just backfired. 

"how do you feel about winning the world cup, kane?"

"i still feel... very guilty. i feel we didn't win it in the right way."

"damn it, kane." his psychologist sighed in frustration. "we have been over every memory for the last five hours. five hours worth of memory and over a decade of hard work, kane. you deserve to be happy. don't let anyone think otherwise. you won the world cup fairly, kane. you have to believe that first." 

kane let out a desperate sigh. kane self diagnosed that he had depression because he couldn't feel happy even after winning the world cup and cashing out the player of the tournament cheque. 

"but virat m deserved the world cup too. even he did years of hard work. even he deserve to be happy. i can't be the one who took away his smiles."

"no, kane. think about it this way — you're the one who gave back the smile to your boys. now, i want you to think about how your boys felt after winning the tournament." 

"i have never seen them this happy. my boys were happy." kane replied promptly. describing them as happy was such an understatement. kane had never seen boult or santner smile that wide. but those smiles cost him virat's smile too. "but i have never seen virat's smile drop that fast. we didn't even win fairly." 

"kane, how many times did you think about virat today?"

"i... i don't know?"

"did you think about him?"

"i did. a lot of times."

his doctor sighed. "kane. you don't feel guilty because you think you didn't win it fair. you feel guilty because you're in love with virat."


	3. kane, virat and sandy

kane couldn't deny it. his therapist expected a more different reaction than that like denial, acting out, cussing or even hurling the coffee mug at the wall. but it's kane we are talking about — he reacted as if he knew that all along, subconsciously. hearing someone tell that just put all the pieces of puzzle together, filling up the voids. maybe he just had to hear someone say that all along to accept that himself. kane williamson was in love with virat kohli. 

"i guess so. it all makes sense now." kane sighed. saying it aloud changed everything. "out of all the people in the world, i fall in love with my best friend... and listen to this. it's is important; he probably doesn't even consider me as his friend. and oh, did i mention he already has a girlfriend who is so beautiful by the way. so beautiful that the point bearded tiny kane can't even stand a chance. does my beard atleast looks alright?" 

kane ran his fingers over his beard. his ginger-ish beard was badly trimmed, it climbed up his face — he hadn't trimmed his beard in four weeks. he would have probably looked awful in the finals and with him winning the tournament, the chance of virat liking him back dropped from a decent two percentage to a point one percentage. 

his therapist's face was confused now. "yeah... i'm not sure whether i should answer that."

"i'm paying you, remember?" kane raised his eyebrows. it looked like they might need a trim too. 

"you're paying me for the sessions, not to lie."

kane glared at his doctor like he was judging his whole existence. "fucking shit. vee could be already thinking that i am ugly and now that i have taken the trophy from him, he'll never look at me again. i, indeed, have a great life." 

"kane, you are not ugly, okay? from what you told about virat, he definitely does not hate you. stop overthinking. you are only creating problems that aren't there." he stopped speaking for a moment. kane was already sitting there on the couch pouting. "you even told me virat asked you to smile during the presentation. see, he doesn't hate you." 

out of a million photographs taken of him that day, there was only one of kane williamson smiling with the trophy. the camera man was standing next to virat.he was firm that he wouldn't look at virat as the one who saw his dreams crumble down into a real hellfire. he'd always remember virat as the royal king with the robust body and regal pride who was hard wired to win. 

but, kane eventually ended up staring at him. virat was smiling — his soft lips curled up into a toothy grin; there were no wrinkles around his eyes and even his cheeks sat an a fiddly position. virat knowing that kane was looking at him signalled him to smile. his lips too curled up a little bit after that. as soon as kane got moving, virat's smile dropped. he lowered his head and continued brand spanking his shoes. 

"is it much of a concern that vee might have caught me casually staring at him?" kane asked him with a straight face. 

his therapist laughed. "like that's even the first time."

"remind me again why am i paying you?" 

"well, you thought you were depressed but in reality you were just in love with virat."

kane pressed his lips. "sounds dumb now." another hour had passed and kane wasn't inclined in spending much on the same day. his doctor told him to do a call and tell how exactly he felt about him but kane was too much of a chicken. he didn't know what was he supposed to do — whether to confess up or to move on. but that thought was for another day. 

as kane walked down the road, he remembered the first time kane spoke to virat. it was during their under nineteen world cup days; he was seventeen and virat was eighteen. 

that evening was one of the most beautiful evenings that kane had ever spent. he was entranced into the beach by the beautiful colors spread across the sky. the horizon was shaded in various hues on various days; sometimes in purple and red with a tangerine glow or shimmering in shades of metallic gold with the waters bathing in sparkles of maroon, pink and orange. the match was next day and kane had to clear is mind. little did he know that he'd meet a boy who'll stay in his mind forever.

the sand was warm enough for him to lie down. he stretched his arms and legs and laid down like a giant starfish which had just escaped the brine. the soft sand was hemmed by waves which occasionally touched his feet and causing him to giggle. he was transfixed watching the sky above with an empty mind not bothering to interpret the dim constellations that was unfolding before his eyes like he always does. 

without a warning, a little guy with caramel fur pounced on him stirring his thoughts awake. in seconds, kane was running his hands through his back as the dog closed his eyes and buried his head in kane's tee. minutes later, a boy walked up to him slowly and there was something about him that drew kane's attention to him. kane thought he had to be around eighteen-ish; he had slightly tanned skin and funny hair, black and fairly covering his forehead and some uneven strands sticking against. he wore a pink shirt with most of his buttons unbuttoned, a black trouser that promptly ended above his knees. he wasn't quite fit or quite attractive but kane was sure giving on him a few more year, he'd be reeking with women and best looks. 

the older boy smiled at him, his cheeks nearly hiding his eyes. he then averted his gaze on the dog which was now sleeping in williamson's lap. 

"is he yours?" kane asked him. 

the boy threw back his head and let out a loud laugh. "and here i thought he was yours."

"i don't live here." kane replied promptly.

"neither do i." said the boy. he knelt down in front of him and slowly petted the lazy dog who was still sleeping. "i am virat, by the way." 

"i am— " kane was interrupted by the dog's low bark. virat lifted him with his two hands and was talking with him. 

"hey doggie. are you awake? did you sleep well?" virat asked him as the dog rubbed his dirty paws all over his face. virat giggled at this. and seeing this, kane's heart skipped a whole beat. the dog turned his neck and looked at kane with his earnest brown eyes.

"who are you looking at, doggie?" he asked the dog with a honeyed voice. kane stretched his hands and booped the dog's little nose. "he loves us." he whispered to kane. "we should name him."

"he's not yours— " 

"sandy. because we found him in the sand."

"that's a lovely name. you came here for vacation, eh?" asked kane. 

"ah, i wish. i am with my team. under nineteen cricket." 

"oh."

"i am the captain." virat said flashing his brightest smile. "and i have a big match tomorrow. nervous and all."

"i'm sure you'll play well tomorrow." kane wished him back. 

"i won't be so sure. there's this boy called kane williamson. i heard he only score his runs from boundaries. and my boys are saying there's no way to get him out. he's handsome too itseems."

"i won't say he's handsome." kane replied. kane was pretty flattered hearing this. "he's a bit weak with spin, i heard."

"you're betraying your own friend." virat said, looking at kane. virat thought, he must be the teammate who didn't like the captain. 

"i am sure he won't mind." 

the sun melted down the horizon and the stars appeared on the sky. virat looked at the watch and decided that he had to go back to the hotel. he bid a goodbye to the younger boy and stood up. "what should we do with him?" he asked pointing the dog. 

"we'll drop him off at the rescue place around the corner."

virat raised his eyebrows, "and here i thought you don't know your area around here."

kane smiled, "what can i say? i have observant eyes."

"and pretty ones too." virat added. they both stared at each other for a moment before they stood up and walked away from the beach. ten minutes later, they reached the rescue place and dropped of sandy hoping that he would find a better home than the dirty beaches. 

"you didn't tell me your name? asked virat as kane prepared to walk off in another direction. 

"find it tomorrow." and virat did find out his name the next day. 

X

dear diary,

i met kane fuckin williamson today in capital letters. yes, i am lazy :p   
he's my patient and i didn't meet him in the conventional way but hey, i met him atleast. i couldn't get his autograph which sucks. next session i would probably get him sign a receipt or something and keep it for myself, hehe. 

the television doesn't do justice to him. he was fine like fiiiine but his beard needs a chop chop soon. he looks like a ginger santa now. 

turns out i was right all along. i knew it. the touches, the hugs, the eyefucking — they're not subtle at all. but the surprise surprise, kane is dumber than i thought he was. he didn’t even know that he was in love with him. i wanted to scream that to him the minute he said his problem but i left him to realise for himself. it took him eight hours  
-_-

i, for my personal reasons, believe virat is in love with him too. i told kane to confess but i am sure he would have chickened out. and i am sure he must have thought about the first time he met virat while he’s walking home. lord, give me strength to deal with the both dumbasses.

ps: i hope that virat and kane get together soon.


	4. so called voicemails and phone calls.

kane williamson was staring at virat's phone number for almost an hour now. for all he knew, virat kohli could outright send his call into voicemail, or worse take the call. he knew he'd sound like a blithering idiot if virat actually took the call. so, he decided to send his love confession as a voicemail, but who even does that? 

he pressed down the recording button, "yo! virat wassup?" deleted. 

"i... uh... uhm..." deleted. 

"heyviratthisiskanewilliamson." deleted without thinking twice. 

"good morning, virat..." deleted. "it's night in india, kane. you're such a loser." he told himself as he sighed and plopped into one of his couch with his hands massaging his temples.

"i hate myself when you're with her; when you don't notice me; when you don't miss me; when you leave me. i absolutely hate myself when you're not there when i win; and you're not there when i lose. i hate that i am late. i am ten years late. i hate that i am in love with you virat. if only i could have kissed you and made you mine when i first saw you, under the stars on the sandy beach. i would do that even a thousand more times if i could..." deleted. 

"i am definitely going to scare him away, isn't it? fuck, it sounds like a vow. a rather morbid vow though, i'll save it for the future, just in case... oh! stop looking at me like that, sandy williamson." sandy jumped onto his laps, buried his head wagging his tail. 

kane spoke to sandy, "you're probably judging me now." sandy turned his head towards his owner with wide brown eyes. "yep, definitely judging. and probably thinking about getting a new owner." 

sandy let out a woof. "how dare you agree with that, sandy? eh? if you continue with this behaviour, i'll just leave you with jimmy. he won't even bother to bath you... or to clean up your crap. you just roll around in the same bed and i won't give two fucks 'bout both." 

sandy looked at kane with his earnest eyes which glowed with a warm brown sheen, and it always melted kane. that was sandy's go to trick whenever he gets onto kane's nerves. "don't act... urgh, don't look at me like that. excuse me, sandy williamson?! you absolutely have no rights to look at me like that. okay stop. i won't leave you alone with jimmy. just stop looking at me like that."

sandy let out a happy woof and buried his head again in kane's lap. "hello virat! it's kane, hope you won't mind me calling... for fuck sake's kane," he yelled out of frustration, "stop being so formal... what are you... nine and writing apologies to the principal?"

his phone lit up. 

"vee calling..." 

"fuck." kane cried in frustration. what if he sent some of his stupid voicemails accidentally? how did virat even have his number? kane called trent boult who called shikhar dhawan for his number in exchange for one of kane's finest bats. this cost kane almost three hours and his favourite bat. 

kane took in a deep breath and answered the call, "hey!" kane cursed himself inside — that 'hey' sounded way too desperate. as if he was waiting for him to call for the past one week. ( by the way, he was! )

"hi! how's my favourite world cup winning captain doing?" virat asked from the other side. 

my: my as in his. my as in belonging to him. my. fuck, virat knows exactly how to play with kane's feelings. "now that you called he's fine." kane flirted. virat's left side of his cherry lips tugged upwards creating a smirk hearing him. if only kane could see it... the first thought would have been to kiss those lips."how's the world's best batsman doing?"

"he's fine, i just asked him, you know?" kane was fighting back his laugh that he wanted to break out. 

"haha virat. i always knew you were a funny person. for real though, how have you been?" kane paused, "after," he whispered, "you know what." 

"good. yeah, i'm good." 

"you sure?" kane held his breath. he wanted virat to be fine. 

"kane," he stretched out every syllable, "i'm really good."

"pakka?"

"haan ji." virat muffled a laughter. 

"i know you're laughing. shut up, vee." 

"i'm sorry... it's just you... talking hindi is very funny."

"don't mock the world's best batsman, vee." said kane. virat forbade everyone from calling him vee. only kane had that right —only he said vee in the right way; the way it mattered to him. 

"who said you were the world's best?" virat asked back. 

"you said it. just two minutes earlier."

"i told that about myself. kane, you're funny." now, virat was smiling from ear to ear. 

"you're not the world's best batsman either." 

"smudge." both said at the same time.

there was a awkward moment of silence until kane spoke, "can i ask you something?"

"you just did." virat laughed. and kane had to imagine his laughing face. kane wanted to see those crinkles by his eyes; his face arching backwards. this is why kane hated phone calls. 

"tell me why you called me."

"oh, you're ordering me now." 

"urgh, i hate you."

"no. you love me." 

"yeah. i love you." kane muttered quietly. virat didn't hear it. their story would have ended there if he did. 

"aye chup, i don't love you. now, tell me why did you call me?"

"i just wanted to know whether you're available for the tour next month?"

"uh... which tour?"

"india tour of new zealand , dumbass."

"i don't know about it." kane answered promptly. to be very honest, the week was a blur. he didn't remember hearing about it. 

"oh wow. you're oblivious. the board told me you're not available, so i chose australia to tour." 

"oh." kane sighed. and he remembered, kane told he wanted a break at least for a six months to the board. kane's didn't know whether to feel happy or sad. to feel happy because he knew he mattered to him or to feel sad because he wouldn't see him for atleast a year because of his dumbassery. 

"i could try changing it to new zealand if you promise me you'll play. i don't want to play against new zealand without you bossing around." 

"i am in. i'm so in. i'll call the board now." kane replied immediately. "but... do you think,"

"i think all the time, mate. i am a good thinker, you know. i overthink sometimes,"

"that's not what i meant... do you think,"

"yeah." 

"stop doing that." kane exclaimed. 

"okay, sir." virat answered.

"stop mocking me."

"i am not." 

"yes, you are."

"yes, i am." 

"did i tell i hate you?"

"oh darling. you're in love with me." virat laughed. 

"you wish. anyway..."

"uh hum!" virat exclaimed.

"vee..."

"kane..."

"i was trying to ask you something."

"go on."

kane said, "thank you."

"you're welcome, mate." 

"urgh. i forgot what i wanted to say."

"i have been told i have that effect on everyone." virat chuckled. 

"narc." 

"self confidence, babe." kane's heart raced after he heard virat calling him babe. he wanted to hear it forever. so, forgetting that virat had a girlfriend, he wanted to confess. 

"vee, can i tell you something?"

"kane," virat continued, "you can tell me anything... wait. wait. wait. i have to go. nushkie just burnt herself with the curling iron. i'll call you later?"

kane's heart sank. "okay."


End file.
